Sasu's Ghost
by Hotaru-Waffles
Summary: AU. When one dies, they don't expect to be brought back to life to help a lonely kid after a massacre. I've learned to start expecting the unexpected. (OC-centric)
1. Prologue

**Summary: AU. When one dies, they don't expect to be brought back to life to help a lonely kid after a massacre. I've learned to start expecting the unexpected. (OC-centric)**

Prologue

_First person POV_

The fact that I couldn't move, or possibly the fact that I couldn't see anything, were two extremely big hints that something was wrong here.

I was lying down on solid ground from what I could gather without seeing; instead, I chose to rely on the fact that my head throbbed and my back ached from resting on the floor for god knows how long.

Being able to breathe was starting to hurt, too—the air felt stale, old, and thick. I had to take deep gasps of much needed oxygen in order to keep my burning lungs at bay.

Each breath seemed as though the atmosphere was getting heavier—almost to the point where I was suffocating.

_That's_ when it started to get weird.

The darkness illuminated tenfold—colors bursting from every direction. It was overwhelming, chaotic. Colors shifted rapidly, tiny glimpses of shapes and pictures appeared and disappeared. In a matter of seconds, voices started mixing in with the hectic slideshow. They were familiar—painfully so. I knew those voices so well that it _hurt_.

Or maybe it was just the oncoming headache?

Whatever it was, it made my head start to pound. The images moved faster—the colors flashed more intensely—the faces of people I couldn't remember started to dim—lastly, the voices got louder.

"Stop," I whispered with a cringe, "_stop_."

I bit my lip in concentration, willing whatever it was to go away.

It just increased.

I was on overload, wishing I could sit up, run away, or _move_. I wanted to get away from the thoughts, the glimpses, but I _couldn't_.

The colors were still flashing, but started to morph into a hazy face.

There's a saying of how curiosity killed the cat; let's hope it doesn't count for teenagers too.

Mentally, I tried arranging the colors to fit the face I was seeing; pressing for it to change into something, anything. My want outweighed my need, and I willed for it to continue into a clearer picture.

And finally, it did.

It turned into a woman, I realized, and she was crying.

"Please," she croaked, sobbing into her hand as the surroundings behind her and in front of me blurred into nothing, "don't take her away—please, god, no. _Please_."

She continued sobbing, before the pale hand she had clasped in her free one went completely limp.

_..._

_"__Please don't take away my daughter!"_

...

**"****Enough."**

The scene shattered in a million pieces at the new voice, bursting and completely going still a second later. The darkness came back, flooding out all of the colors and reflections.

I found myself sitting up with my eyes wide and nearly popping out of my head, gasping for air once again. The sudden halt of the memory left me dizzy, disoriented even, and I tried to focus back on reality before I passed out from nausea.

I strained my ears to listen to the soft footsteps that echoed on the smooth, solid ground; sounding a lot closer to where I sat than it should have been. Despite the ache it caused the back of my shoulders, I hugged my arms around my waist securely, looking around frantically for whatever was in the room with me.

I couldn't even see my hands an inch away from my face; let alone another _being_ probably a greater distance away.

Shifting to sit on my knees, I swallowed the lump in my throat and let out a hesitant '_hello?' _as to ease my curiosity.

It was just as stupid as in the horror movies, but I really had no other idea at the moment.

Immediately after my ingenious plan, candles sprung to life and lit the wide room I sat in, all popping into existence with a single flicker. My eyes flashed closed for a second, trying to adjust carefully to the brightness of it all, but once I could see clearly, I wish I hadn't.

I looked up in horror at the figure before me—quickly squeaking in fright and scooting backwards faster than I thought possible.

You'd do the same if you were face to face with the grim reaper himself.

"You weren't supposed to be able to see those images—it is one of the laws of the universe," he mused dryly, shifting his weight from foot to bony foot, "but you seem very adamant on defying those laws today, Ms. Flynn."

I was paralyzed by time he uttered my name, shaking slightly from fear and the situation itself.

It's never good when the grim reaper—death _himself_, basically—knows you're name. _Ever_.

"H-how do you know my name?" I asked hesitantly, voicing my own thoughts. I accusingly narrowed my eyes slightly when I could feel his amusement rolling off him in waves.

"I know everyone's name—it is my job. Yet it is hard to miss the one human who died on the wrong date." He replied smartly, gesturing to me with his skeletal hand.

"I-I _what_?"

I didn't exactly hear his response, nor answer it; I was too shocked to even breathe normally, let alone give a reply without choking up.

With my body stiff and rigid, and my arms and hands numb, I stared at the floor with wide eyes.

How could I be _dead_?

I don't remember dying—I don't remember _anything_ really.

I knew my name at least; Susana Flynn. A fifteen year-old girl who loves to bake, has average grades, and supposedly _died_ and has no idea _how_.

My bleary eyes focused back to reality when I saw hands—bony and skeletal hands, mind you—pass back and forth between my line of sight and the floor.

Snapping my head up, I stared with confusion in my eyes at the figure before me, not really knowing how to take all the information in.

Yes, I was dead. Yes, I was panicking. And yes, I was slightly intimidated by the guy in front of me who lacked skin.

What on earth _happened_ today?

"I sense your confusion, so I believe it to be right of me to explain your current predicament." Death rasped, standing up straighter—empty eye sockets boring a hole in my head with his stare.

"An explanation would be nice, yes." I replied dryly, still apprehensive about everything going on.

His right hand shifted, swinging the scythe of doom—as I'd like to put it—forward and revealing a parchment of paper that appeared with a _pop_ only seconds later. He leaned forward, gripping at the edges of the worn sheet, and made a slight noise of understanding.

"It says here you were to die at the age of 76 from a heart attack—yet I don't believe your current age is 76, correct? At most you'd be fifteen, which is highly odd considering the situation." He mused, rubbing the part of his face where his chin would be.

I just blinked, processed the information, and urged him to continue.

He got the gesture, and read a few more lines before he hummed, and continued on with his explanation, "people like you are rarities—defying the laws of the universe is a rarity in itself—yet you have done it. It is like the saying, 'you were in the wrong place at the wrong time', isn't it?"

He was trying to make light of the situation, wasn't he? Too bad it didn't do anything for my nerves besides make it worse.

"So wait," I spoke barely above a whisper, clenching my hands at my sides, "you're saying that I died, but I _shouldn't_ have? How on earth did _that_ happen?"

"I am not quite sure," he responded, not missing a beat, "This situation hasn't happened for over two millennia, therefore the situation is indeed a mystery. But I am entitled to give you a 'second chance' per say—due to the circumstances and all."

"A second chance? What kind of second chance?"

"Well," he uttered, snapping his fingers and making the parchment disappear, "you still have a lifetime that belongs to you, hence the second chance—I'll be giving you it back partially."

With a confused furrow of my eyebrows, I quizzically look at his dark from, "Partially?"

"There is a price to be paid for the second chance—you did die after all, so there will be repercussions. Repercussions with risks, that is."

"Risks," I asked after a pause, "what risks?"

"Your life will be yours, yet it won't."

…

"_What_?" I asked, not getting the riddle in the slightest.

He hummed and let loose a long sigh, "Youths these days," he muttered lowly, trying to remain inaudible, before finally enlightening me about what he was talking about, "you will be given another life to live, but you will spend part of it helping someone who's life they won't fully be able to live due to a great loss or close ordeal with death—much like yourself in a way. I have no control over who you will help, and most likely there is a high risk of wherever you are placed will not always be completely safe. In simple terms, the risk is death, one where you will not be given a second chance."

At my look of horror and small gasp, he continued on with something as a type of afterthought: "but you dying will be close to none if you are careful."

My gaze travelled down to the floor that I sat on, watching distractedly as the shadows flickered along with the candlelight—could I actually do this? Would the second chance really be worth it?

I slowly looked up at the hooded figure once more, a guarded look set in my eyes, "If I take the second chance, will I be able to remember who I once was; how I died?"

I watched as the space of the hood where his shoulders were rose up and calmly fell—a mere shrugging gesture, I realized before I heard his raspy voice answer, "I can give you no guarantee, Ms. Flynn, and for that I am truly sorry—it will depend solely on you whether you remember or not."

My body tensed for a slight second, before I relaxed and heaved a weary sigh. Gaining enough strength in my still slightly wobbly limbs, I stood up so that I could look him in his empty eyes, "I accept the consequences," I murmured, "I accept your choice of a second chance."

"Are you positive—once you say yes you will be given no other option but to take the second chance." He asked, sounding more serious than he had before.

"Yeah," I replied with a smile, "what's the harm in a new life? Plus, I might get to remember my old one."

He didn't respond, instead he merely nodded his head in agreement to what I said. A minute passed, and I found myself watching closely as he snapped his fingers, the residual sound his bony hands had made caused an echo to bounce off the barren walls with force. As if it were all apart of a domino effect, the candles started to slowly burn out, making the shadows loom on the walls in a haunted looking way. Death's form started to get hazier with each blink, and my breathing had turned into me gasping for air again.

It's embarrassing to admit, but I started panicking, not wanting to fall back into the black again. My mind pushed for myself to stay awake, to keep my eyes open. And yet, that wasn't working—something much stronger than my mind wouldn't _let_ it work.

With one last breath, I felt myself slowly start to fall backwards; my eyes shutting close as a sign to show that I gave in. Sleep might not be too bad anyway.

"Goodbye," a voice that sounded hushed spoke into the darkness, "remain careful."

_'__Don't count on it_,' I mentally responded before my world grew dark and silent once more.

Tomorrow would be better.

_Hopefully._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Well, I guess it's time for an explanation—this is just a preview so to speak, and if I decide to continue, it'll turn out to be the prologue.<em>**

**_Constructive criticism would really help, and so would some ideas!_**

**_I'm sorry for not updating my other story in so long, but I'll get working on it soon enough :)_**

**_Oh, and to be clear, this is solely an alternate universe version of a Naruto fanfic—an oc character will be playing one of the protagonist roles._**

**_Thanks for reading!_**

**10/9/14**


	2. Chapter 1: As the Rain Falls

**Summary: AU. When one dies, they don't expect to be brought back to life to help a lonely kid after a massacre. I've learned to start expecting the unexpected. (OC-centric)**

**_*All rights for the characters go to Masashi Kishimoto; except for mine of course*_**

**Chapter 1**

_First person POV_

'_You know,_' I muttered mentally, lying on the floor with no ability to see anything once so ever, '_I seem to get in these situations more than the typical human being'_.

Groaning in dismay, I shifted to a point where I was lying on my side; warm face pressed against cool, cold tile. I wanted to stand up, investigate even, but my body felt too numb to even move without flopping over.

To make things worse, the place where I was smelt funny, and the fumes were making me dizzy. The smell was familiar, and not in a good way; it reminded me of things that were overly clean, sanitary—almost like hand sanitizer in a way.

_'__Great, just where am I now?'_

I willed myself to push my arms against the ground, effectively gaining enough control to sit like a normal person—and when I mean normal, I mean as normal as you can get when you feel so disoriented that you can't even open your eyes without failing miserably.

Sighing, I ran a hand through my tangled hair, wincing every time it got caught up in a knot.

Note to self: once I know where I am, locate the nearest hairbrush.

My hand was eventually freed from any stray knots, and I brought them to my eyes—trying to rub the sleep out of them. It seemed to work slightly, since I could now see a bright room with a lot of tall objects.

_Blurry_ objects, that is.

And despite how things were actually starting to go my way this time, something was still off.

Soon after I could see, I found myself gazing around the room aimlessly, trying to pinpoint whatever it was that made me second guess myself. A minute of staring around the room passed, and I shrugged in defeat—pushing the thought away without any complaints or regrets.

That is, until I stared down.

Originally, I looked down so I could plan how I was going to get myself to stand up. That's when I noticed what seemed off; my hands. They were placed in my lap, and they _were_ normal hands—just _smaller_. Like the rest of me. _Smaller_.

Too put it simply, I panicked. Maybe not in an I'm-so-scared sort of way, but more of an oh-my-gosh-this-is-bad way.

Death mentioned I would be placed somewhere else—another realm for all I know—to help someone. What he failed to mention, was that I was going to become a _child_ while helping this person.

While keeping my focus away from how I suddenly turned eight—how was that even _possible_?—I flickered my sight back and forth through the room, trying to find something that would give me answers. Why was I eight? Why was I smaller? Why was the room so white?

Why did this have to happen?

I took notice of the curtain that was semi-around a bed, and the full IV bag that was next to it; was I in a hospital?

_'__No,'_ I thought, _'I'm probably in a mental institution.'_

But I put that thought to the back of my mind, not truly believing it, and stared around a little more.

My eyes locked on a tiny, round shaped object on the table next to the bed, and I leaped to my feet to get it.

I rushed towards the new found mirror that sat on the opposite side of the room, scrambling to stay standing on my already numb feet. I reached it within a few shaky steps, and an almost face plant, but I got to it nonetheless.

I scowled when I picked it up, not yet staring at my reflection, but the chubbier hands that gripped the sides. Fifteen year olds didn't have hands like that—small, chubby, _fragile_.

_'__Give it a rest, Susana,'_ I told myself, _'you can handle this.'_

Taking a deep breath, I forced my eyes to take in what was staring back at me.

What I saw is similar to how I how I pictured myself—but the image I had was of a fifteen year old girl—a _teenager_.

_Not_ an eight year old little kid with a chubbier face and wide, forest green eyes—one that wore a gray hoodie that seemed three sizes too big as well—and array of freckled dusted over her nose staring back at me in the mirror.

"No," I muttered, trembling, "this is _not_ happening."

Stepping back unsteadily, I continued looking at my younger self in the mirror with horror, before pausing all together, "_It's actually happening."_

I heard a voice from outside the room, and snapped my head too look towards the door with lightning speed. It sounded like a lady, an older one, talking to someone younger than her.

I couldn't exactly tell what they were saying, but the conversation they were having got louder and louder; letting me know that they were getting closer.

My eyes travelled around the room frantically, looking for a place to hide just in case they were to walk in here. I took one step towards the bed, before stopping mid-step.

The mirror in my hand slipped, and I watched in surprise as it fell to the ground in slow motion.

By time I actually reached out to grab it, it was too late—the medium sized mirror fell to the tile and exploded into tiny fragments of glass, giving off a loud noise. In a panic, I lifted my head back up and noticed the voices stopped, before louder versions of them started. Heavy footsteps echoed outside the room, and I knew it was too late to hide.

The doorknob was already turning by time I had taken one step to avoid being spotted—Death had said to be careful, so I was going to try and take his advice.

Keyword; _try_.

I leaped for the bed, rolling off it and landing on the floor painfully just as the door opened. I took a gasp of air, before peaking above the pillows—looking over just as the first person walked into the room.

It was three women; all who looked as if they were nurses—well, if their yellow uniform and nurse caps were anything to go by, that is. Two out of the three looked younger, and identical at that. The only difference between them being the way their hairstyle was, one with their hair down, and one that was tied up.

The third was an older woman, one who looked to be in her mid-sixties; she wore the same uniform, and had her graying hair pinned up in a clean bun. She looked kind, and reminded me of what a stereotypical grandmother looked like.

"Did you hear something," the grandmother asked, "I thought I heard someone in here."

The two younger women shook their heads simultaneously, before one of them spotted my broken mirror and spoke up: "Hey! Look at that—the mirror's broken."

"I thought this room was vacant for the time being." The grandmotherly lady mused, taking a second glance around the room.

I just sunk further into my hiding spot.

"Well, whoever was in here is gone," one of the nurses announced, while the other just nodded.

If they weren't twins, then I was going to be _really_ surprised.

"Not to mention, that when a mirror cracks, it's bad luck on whoever broke it—I'd hate to be _that_ person."

She just said that to smite me, didn't she?

"Now, now girls," the grandmother nurse spoke, smoothing her apron and sending them a kind smile, "do me a favor and get me a dustpan and broom—but before that, can you check on the young boy in room 103 for me please? Thank you."

"No problem Hana-sensei! We'll be right back!" The two of them cheered, before running out the door in a hurry.

_'__Sensei?'_ I asked myself_, 'isn't that a type of Japanese teacher?'_

"Oh dear me, I wonder what actually happened." Now deemed Hana-sensei muttered, kneeling on the ground and picking up the larger shards.

Watching her clean up my mess was starting to weigh on my conscience, and I could feel myself start to crack under the guilt.

_'__Curse my good natured heart!'_

I settled back on the floor, before pushing my body up to stand slowly—my joints still ached, but it wasn't as bad as before. At least I had _some_ sort of feeling in my legs.

Walking around the side of the bed, I stood facing her with a guilty look on my face, ready to apologize once she acknowledge that I was there.

A second passed, and she never looked up.

Puzzled, I took a step towards her, crouching down a little to gain her attention, "Ms. Hana-sensei?"

"Yes?" she replied, still picking up shards.

It was a natural response to a question, but it wasn't exactly right. Her voice was too loud, like she was talking to someone from a distance; yet I was standing right in front of her.

"Uhm," I tried speaking up again, "I'm really sorry for dropping the mirror—I wasn't paying attention and, uh, sorta dropped it."

"Oh, it's no big deal," she started, smiling, before turning to look at the door way behind her and I, "I'm sure it wasn't on—hello?"

She was tensed, like she was really surprised that no one was standing there. Did she really not see me?

"Is anyone there?" she repeated, standing swiftly and heading straight for the door. On reflex I followed her, still confused on why she wasn't aware that I was practically standing next to her.

"Hello?" she asked loudly, now standing in the middle of the hall. Her light blue eyes looked startled as they traced back and forth through the hall—never once looking straight at me.

I walked past the doorway, and into the brightly lighted hall—taking a few cautious steps toward the lady in front of me, "Uh, ma'am? I'm right—!"

I cut off midsentence as she whirled around in a panic, eyes wide and slightly confused. She was trembling—in a way that made question if there was some huge monster behind me.

Freezing, I turned around slowly; only to see and empty room.

So why was she scared?

I took a look at her eyes, just to see exactly what she was staring at that made her freak out—at to my horror, I realized something. She didn't see something that scared her—it was more of what she _didn't_ see.

Her eyes were on me, I recognized, _but she wasn't seeing me._

My eyes started to sting as I carefully wove myself away from her and into a different direction—giving a single glance back before taking off in a random direction in the hall.

I made sure that I ran in to nobody—but concentrating was starting to become harder and harder as most of the reality of what just happened came crashing down.

It got to the point of me not caring where I was going—and it's not like anyone could see me anyway—so I just ran. I passed some doctors in the main hall, and some frantic nurses shuffling over patients, but I was too shell shocked to really notice.

I didn't want to be eight—I'm _not_ eight—I didn't want to be invisible—I didn't want to be partially _dead_.

I just want to go _home_.

Death didn't explain this part. Nor did he tell me who I was supposed to risk my second chance at life for. How was I even supposed to help this person if I wasn't even _visible_?

I was still running, but now the halls were getting more barren—which was a plus considering how my eyes were tearing up.

Rubbing furiously at my eyes—because crying was childish, and I was _not_ a _child_—I sped off a few more feet before connecting head on with something. My eyes were squeezed shut as I skid along the floor, rolling over and onto my face.

_'__Well, that hurt,'_ I thought, groaning into my arms_, 'what did I even hit?'_

A similar sound of pain not too far away caused me to snap my eyes open, and peak from underneath my arms.

From what I could see, it was a boy, one who had black hair—which was in a really weird style, to be honest—and dark clothes. He looked young, but there were signs that something had happened to him; something that shouldn't have happened.

Was he the person who I was supposed to help?

The boy wasn't too far away from me on the ground, almost at arm's length, so I knew that I hadn't hit him too hard by running into him.

_'__Thank god.'_

Making another groan—more for complaining purposes this time—I pushed myself off the ground, and into a sitting position. I was just about to open my mouth to apologize, but the words died in my throat.

Would he even be able to see me?

Shutting my eyes before they could start stinging again, I made a move to stand up; stopping only when I saw him sit up with a wince, quickly reaching for his arm.

"Are you ok?" I blurted before I could stop myself, scooting a little closer to him as I reached my hand out.

Watching in shock as he opened his eyes—forest green eyes meeting deep onyx ones—I saw him stare directly at me as he nodded his head, before mouthing a quick 'yes' in reply.

My ears didn't even hear the reply—once I saw that he could see me—_actually_ see me—all the sound around me turned to a dull buzz.

_'__He can see me,'_ my mind screamed, _'he can see me!'_

I stared at him a little longer, before zoning out completely.

Wait.

His dark hair, dark clothes, dark eyes, and pale skin were all traits that were accustomed to me for some reason.

_Why_ does he look so familiar?

A faint rush of dull memories hit me suddenly, and I pressed my hand to my head before I could help myself. It made me look weak in a way, but the quick throb that hit me _wasn't_ weak.

"Did you hit your head or something?" he asked, somewhat inquisitively—yet the underlining tone of bluntness was still there.

"A-ah, no," I muttered, sheepishly bringing my hand back down and pressing it flat against the floor, "it's just that you look familiar for one thing—and you can _see_ me. Like actually see me, unlike that one woman in the other room—Hana-sensei was her name, I think. Anyway, you can see me! Which is odd, because the coincidence is—?"

He cut me off mid-rant/babble—which I would later be grateful for—and stared at me in confusion, "what do you mean 'see you'? Can't other people see you?"

"Eh, no again, actually." I muttered, losing my previous excited energy.

"Explain." He somewhat demanded, looking slightly curious.

"Well," I started, curling my toes and pursing my lips in thought, "I-I died—supposedly—and I was given a second chance to come back and help someone who has a similar fate to mine. When I got here, I accidentally dropped a mirror—long story—and some of the nurses ran in the room. When one of them stayed to clean up, I went to apologize. And, well, she didn't see me; and I, uh, ended up scaring her pretty bad. That's when I took off running, and ended up here I guess." I finished lamely, feeling deflated.

I met his eyes again, and felt like an idiot when I was getting the 'uh-huh, and I'm a flying unicorn' look from him. Sinking further into myself, I huffed in annoyance—it's not _so_ farfetched of a story, is it?

The look just intensified, like he knew what I was thinking, and I deflated even more.

"I don't believe you," he spoke, shifting to stand up, "for now anyway."

I was ready to cave in by his first sentence, yet immediately sprang to life at his second. Feeling relieved, I sighed with a smile. If he hadn't believed me, I doubt I'd be able to find another person who could see me.

I looked up when he got to his feet, watching as he put his hand out for me to grab, "My name is Sasuke—what's yours?" he asked.

"Uh, it's Susana," I mumbled, taking his hand and standing up myself.

He scrunched his face and looked at me like I was even weirder, "that's an odd name."

_'__Really?'_ I thought dryly, _'you're the one with the name 'Sasuke'.'_

"Yeah," a feminine voice from around the corner broke into the silence, agreeing with whoever they were talking to, "that's what I heard too."

I shared a looked with Sasuke, before following after him as we crept along the corner to listen.

"That boy was the only one who survived the massacre," she continued, sounding heartbroken.

I noticed Sasuke visibly tensed, now listening in with his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

_'__Could he be..?'_

"Someone said they think he has an older brother, is that right?" a new voice spoke up, sounding like I've heard it before.

I walked passed a now wide eyed Sasuke, giving him a reassuring glance as I stepped ahead of him—which he didn't notice—and turned to see the same two twin-like nurses from before.

Shifting my glance back to Sasuke, I noticed how his wide eyes were distant, as if remembering something.

The two women kept talking.

"Yeah, he does—but no one knows where he is right now." The girl wearing her hair tied up explained, clutching at the clipboard she was carrying.

"Awe" the second lady sympathized with the first, eyes getting soft.

"Sasuke—!" I whispered turning around but pausing after I saw him clenching his teeth, eyes brows furrowed in annoyance.

_'__They're talking about him,' _I realized, _'and he looks ready to snap.'_

Neither nurse heard him though, and continued gossiping, "I can't believe it, that the elite Uchiha clan could just be—! "

I didn't understand why she had paused until I turned, watching as Sasuke trudged dazedly forward, bangs kept hovered over his eyes.

_'__Uchiha…why does that sound familiar?'_

He was nearly at the end of the hall despite how slowly he was walking, and I made a dash towards him before he could exit through the front hospital doors.

I met up with him right as he took one step out of the building, nudging him with my shoulder.

The look he gave me in reply was chilling, and so helplessly lost, that it took all my willpower not to shy away.

"Let's go," I whispered, staring directly into his eyes, "wherever you need to go, I'm going too—so let's go."

"What? Why—?"

"Sasuke Uchiha," I stated, testing out the name on my tongue—trying hard to ignore its foreignness—and giving him a stern look, "_let's_. _Go_."

Whatever I just did worked for whatever reason unknown to me, and he nodded; speeding off towards the street in a frantic hurry.

_'__Why must it always resort to running?'_ I mentally complained as my legs protested with the fast pace_, 'my body can't take this.'_

Albeit my apparent dislike for running, I still kept up at his brisk pace, not wanting to get left behind.

I knew now for certain that he was the person I was supposed to help—he was the only one who could see me, _and_ had a great loss and close ordeal with death.

Just like Death himself had mentioned.

The streets we ran in seemed somber, almost to the point where everyone seemed like they couldn't function. The lanterns that filled the space overhead were all dimly lit, the markets and street vendors all seemed weary and drained, and the people passing by us seemed to move in a zombie-like trance. The weirdest part was how everyone snapped out of there stupor right as Sasuke passed, all locking there gazes on him and whispering—all the while giving him a sympathetic look.

If Sasuke noticed this behavior, he never showed it. Instead he was gazing straight ahead, eyes set on their target—his home.

The clouds in the sky seemed to reflect on the people's and Sasuke's mood, turning dark and gray and moving at a fast pace.

I didn't notice that our running had started to slow, too mesmerized by all the colorful buildings with signs that weren't legible—was that _kanji_?—that I had to force myself to stop abruptly before I ran into Sasuke a second time.

Sucking in heaps of oxygen, I placed my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath—glaring daggers at the boy in front of me for looking mostly unaffected.

I let up my glare when he too had to take deep gasps of air, and breathed deeply before standing up straight.

"Is this…?" I trailed off, walking forward and pulling at the yellow police tape.

"Yeah." He replied curtly, looking on with furrowed eyebrows at the entrance. My gaze lingered on the two decorative paintings of a single red and white fan, before my mind clicked.

The Uchiha _clan_.

The _Uchiha_ massacre.

_Sasuke_. _Uchiha_.

_'__No,'_ I thought mentally, eyes as wide as saucers_, 'out of all the things…'_

_'__Death sent me to an _anime_ world. And to make it _worse_—__he had me help one of the main characters.'_

I sucked in a breath, lump forming in my throat—this place was dangerous. The person walking over and underneath the tape in front of me is dangerous. Why, out of all the places, was I sent _here_?

Was _here_ even a real _place_?

As if on cue, a flash of something that I saw in the hospital hit me; a picture, of a girl and two other boys all sitting on a floor together, huddled in the dark. Bags of chips were strewn across the floor, and CD's laid everywhere. The three kids were all sat next to each other, arms and limbs thrown across one another like it didn't matter. The two boy's looked older than the girl, and on top of that, identical. Despite that, they were all doing the same thing—watching a small screen.

Squinting at the screen, I realized what is was.

_Naruto_.

The picture became clearer, as were the people—within seconds the color intensified, then faded, and I was left standing by the police tape once again, staring at the back of the boy in front of me.

_'__There's no doubt,'_ I thought, _'the girl in the picture was me.'_

"Sana," Sasuke hissed, impatient, "hurry up."

_'__And this place is actually real.'_

Doing a double take at the thought and at the new pronunciation of my name, I climbed over the police tape, careful as to not rip it—still thinking about the picture I saw.

Was that small memory my answer for why I was here? And for my past?

_'__Think about that later, Susana. There are more important things happening.'_

Just as I finished reprimanding myself—as weird yet slightly normal that is—the sky darkened further, letting off a rumbling noise; seemingly picking up further on Sasuke's mood.

He was found staring distantly at the places and shops around him, watching some as if he could still see the people standing there, talking to him and asking him questions. His mood picked up slightly, but came crashing down once reality set in; all he had now were just memories—the people from before were gone.

The sky rumbled once again, and the smell of blood and death became even stronger, seeming as though the smell alone was taunting us in a messed up way.

I kept glancing at him and he walked in front of me—still unnerved, distant. He reminded me of a sponge, able to absorb the damage but not process it completely. He looked weary, and I knew I should probably say or do something to make him feel better.

But what does one say to another when their entire _clan_ dies? At the hands of the one closest to you as well?

I opened my mouth to say something, but the words died in my throat—rain had started to fall. It fell one drop at a time at first, before spilling over completely.

Picking up my hair and placing it over my shoulder, I glanced brokenly at how the rain didn't even affect Sasuke at all; he kept on walking, hands placed in his pockets, and his face downcast.

_Man, was he going to be hard to cheer up._

He paused slightly, turning to stare over at the wall beside him. I followed his gaze, looking at the large Uchiha fan painted on the wall, and noticed the large crack there was in it.

_'__Didn't Itachi cause that?'_

By the way his hands clenched, and he whipped his head forward, I would say that I was right.

He pressed on, still walking as if in a trance—and I followed, still not sure how to respond. I rubbed the rain off my face with one quick swipe of my hand, before wringing out the bottom of my gray hoodie. The rain was starting to come down more rapidly, making it harder to see.

_Some of the things here aren't meant to be seen anyway._

A loud sound of something being opened brought my attention back to Sasuke, who was opening the door of what I thought to be what used to be his house. He stepped pass a huge, red umbrella and the large bushes and plants by the side wall, looking stiff and shaky along the way. Once inside, he turned his head briefly, eyes locking onto mine as a silent message to walk in.

Before I could respond, he turned his head back around, taking off his shoes and walking forward into a dark and haunted looking hallway.

My eyes widened, and I swiftly ran inside, wringing out my hoodie once more and closing the door before following after him.

I would have taken off my shoes, but I didn't have any on—so I ignore it and brushed more hair over my shoulder and out of my face. I was practically walking on his heels now, feeling the eerie aura the hall was giving off. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but I pushed forward, watching silently at how many memories were making Sasuke suffer.

He trudged a bit farther, turning the corner to a porch on the outside of the house. The wood was stained with water, mini puddles filling in the small dents of the floor boards. It looked serene past the wooden rails, but it was far from the actual truth.

I slowed down a little so that he had some room to process and think, and instead focused on how he made footprints on the wood as he walked. The footprints slowed somewhat, and I looked up to see him staring at the space in front of him, before looking down once more.

_'__Death, what did you just get me involved in?'_

The walkway on the porch led up to an opening in the way—which I later realized was another room in the complex—and Sasuke turned to walk in, yet paused as his eyes became distant once again.

He was smiling slightly, and could tell he was thinking of one of his parents. When his eyes refocused, the smile dropped altogether, and I knew that I had to do something before it was never seen on his face again.

Mustering up some courage, I grabbed his hand from his side, and ignored the shocked look on his face; instead I smiled reassuring, and tightened my grip.

He opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off when a loud noise crashed from somewhere in the other room.

Both of us swiveled our heads towards the direction from where it came from with two very different reactions—mine being suspicious and scared, and Sasuke's being hopeful and anticipative.

"Mom?" he called out hesitantly, running full speed towards the room and almost literally dragging me behind him.

I jumped over the few items on the floor, and avoided running into the wall as he yanked me forward; my hand clenched tightly in his so I wouldn't lose balance and fall on my face.

I made a choked noise and stumbled as he made a grab at the door, flinging it open with ease and running through. His expression wasn't readable from where I was angled at, so I couldn't really make out what he was thinking. Feeling my fingers start to ache, I looked down to see his hand tightly grasping mine—a completely unaware gesture on his part—and resigned to the fact that my hand was going to fall off.

_'__It's for a good cause,'_ I told myself_, 'bear with it for the freaked out eight year old boy,'_

A loud, low, and down-right creepy cat-like noise came from ten feet in front of where we stood, yellow eyes peering back at us and illuminating when the lightning flashed.

I 'eeped', eyes widening from surprise, and jolted to take a step back—the hair on the back of my neck standing up.

When the lightning flash resided, I breathed a sigh of relief, but tensed when I felt Sasuke let go of my hand.

Bringing my attention back to him, I noticed how fast he had switched from hopeful to melancholy. His shoulders sagged as he watched the cat jump from the window and out into the rain, taking off without a look back.

He tore his attention off of the window and the doorway that stood across the room—placing his right foot forward and began the trance-like walk once again towards it.

I remained where I stood, watching with longing—it was my job to help him—it's basically the _only_ reason that I was here right now—yet I didn't know how.

_'__Be there for him,' _I thought instantly, staring at his back before it disappeared into the room, _'he's going to need all the human contact he can get with everyone gone.'_

Moving around the table and dashing quickly into and through the doorway, I ran straight to his side, grabbing his attention for a split second before it turned distant once again.

_'__There's still at least some hope.'_

He walked through the bedroom doorway before I did, pausing and staring down at the floor with mixed emotions. I paused too, staring down with horror at the taped out outlines of his parents bodies.

What made it worse was the blood was still in splatters on the floor, now brown due to how long it's sat there.

Outside, the rain kept pouring vigorously—lightning and thunder raging and flashing with vengeance, and seemingly lighting up the room in haunted and eerie shadows.

Closing my eyes, I mustered up my courage for the second time today, and turned to face the close to tears boy. "Sasuke," I murmured, speaking up for the first time in a while, and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned to me in question, eyes watery and bleary.

"You're going to be alright."

It was a bold statement, but it got the message through:

He would make it through this—he wouldn't cave.

Maybe it was what I had said, or the whole event in general, but a few tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes, rolling off of his cheeks and falling to the floor.

And just like the rain, one after the other poured out.

As he slumped to the floor, crying silently over the outline of his dead parent's bodies, I sat next to him, clutching his hand in reassurance.

And together we sat in the dark, waiting for tomorrow to come and to make this day end.

**11/9/2014**

**I swear to god I'm going to figure out a better ending for this chapter—because the one I wrote was ****_way_****too rushed and cheesy.**

**Anyway, I apologize for the long wait; and thank you all for being generous and following/favoriting/reviewing.**

**Now, I believe I'm going to have to explain some things before I get a bunch of comments asking why some of the things in the chapter are the way they are.**

**1. Susana is, indeed, only visible to Sasuke for the time being—the reason for that will be mentioned in later chapters. Also, she ****_can_****be heard by other people—just because she's invisible doesn't make her inaudible.**

**2. Sasuke might be OOC in this chapter; but I have and explanation for that! First of all, this is actually my first time writing his type of character, so I'm a little rusty at it. Secondly, he is more emotionally vulnerable in this time period (I know because I used the actual episode for the guidelines of this chapter) and it would make sense for him to have a little more emotion going on. Also, this isn't the Sasuke as a genin; this is him as a child, were his emotions weren't as guarded until after the massacre. (I promise to start writing him in his original characteristics after a few chapters and when most of the trauma from the massacre is subsided.)**

**3. Susana is pronounced Sū-sā-nuh**

**4. My oc may sound a little mary-sueish in this, and if she does, you can blame it on my rushing. If there is any part of the text that you don't feel is practical, let me know.**

**5. Susana's character traits are still being worked on, but I picture her as a motherly person, who is generally curious, and sometimes has a knack for being cynical. You can't yet see some of the traits due to her being mostly confused in this chapter, thanks to the events that are going on.**

**6. As for my reference as to how I got most of my information, I used episode 131 in ****_Naruto_****for my guidelines.**

**7. There are a lot of mental thoughts expressed in this chapter; that's because it's in first person and gives more insight on the situation with the main character's perspective. (plus it's how most of the comedy is put in without looking forced ;) )**

**8. Any other information will probably be discussed in the next chapter and or later chapters.**

**If you have any other questions, suggestions, or ideas for upcoming events, let me know! And if you spot any errors, tell me—because most likely my spell-check didn't do its job again.**

***Next update should be within a week if school isn't too hectic* **

**…**

**Question: What's your favorite Anime? (Can be more than one.)**


	3. Chapter 2: Change for the Better

**Summary: AU. When one dies, they don't expect to be brought back to life to help a lonely kid after a massacre. I've learned to start expecting the unexpected. (OC-centric)**

**_*All rights for the characters go to Masashi Kishimoto; except for mine of course*_**

**Chapter 2**

_First Person POV_

_Click-click-click_

"Mmm?" I mumbled, waking up and hearing a door shutting quietly. A few shuffling noises followed soon after, and then the silence continued once more. The newfound quiet quickly started to lull me back to sleep, and I yawned into my hand. Now content that whatever was being loud had left, I rolled over back onto my side and nestled myself into a soft substance, almost like a pillow of some sort.

_'__What if it's a robber?'_ an annoying voice whispered in the back of my mind.

_'__Then he or she can have my money.'_ I argued tiredly, rolling over once more.

_'__What if it's a murderer?'_ the voice reasoned.

_'__Then they can kill me.'_ I argued once more, though not as heatedly.

_'__What if—?'_

"_Fine_! I'm up! I'm up!" I shouted, swinging my hands in the air and opening my eyes in frustration.

_'__Why do I have to be such a worrywart anyway?'_ I wondered grumpily, blinking to let my eyes refocus.

In confusion, I found myself staring at a ceiling that didn't really look familiar. I rubbed my eyes, and stared back up still confused, before taking a glance around.

_'__I don't remember my house looking like this…'_

A pause, and then: _'__Well, I think it doesn't look like this at least.'_

Grumbling and blushing at my lack of knowledge, I pushed myself up so I could sit—only to have my arms give way beneath me, resulting in a very unexpected face plant. Letting out a moan, I rolled over and off the couch, lying on the floor motionlessly. The hardwood felt cold, and I crinkled my toes to gain some circulation running through them. Yawning with my forehead pressed in the solid and frigid ground, I stretched my arms tiredly and settled, finally relaxing.

_'__What was I doing again?'_

Scooting myself closer to the coffee table, I picked myself up and rested my head against the hard surface, still feeling the effects of being half-asleep.

_'__The house looks familiar though,'_ I thought, _'__and it has a Japanese style to it—but it sort of smells weird. It's almost like—_wait_.'_

The room smelt like _blood_.

Snapping my eyes open, they widened with recognition; this was _Sasuke's_ house.

As I stared at nothing for a few moments, memories of yesterday came back to me in a blur.

A huge massacre just happened.

I was sent here—invisible to the world and now the physical age of eight—to help.

I was in an alternate dimension from my own.

And I don't even remember who I really was.

Blinking, I shifted myself onto my knees, before pushing myself up to stand. The air still reeked of blood, and the cold and stale air didn't help anything except for my decreasing body temperature. Sighing at how I didn't have any socks or shoes, I cursed whoever had the bright idea of not giving me any.

Dragging myself away from the table as quick as I could, I wondered why I felt someone was missing. There shouldn't be anyone making a lot of noise—due to the circumstances—but the silence was _too_ deafening. The only noise to be heard was the creaking of floor boards as I walked. Turning around, I glanced behind me at the couch I was lying on earlier—slightly wondering how I'd got there in the first place.

"Hmm, Sasuke must've—_Sasuke_."

_Sasuke_ was the person missing.

Whipping my eyes back around, I trudged a little faster forward, now slightly concerned.

I passed by the rooms hurriedly, peeking in each one briefly—how does one lose an eight year old _kid_?

Ok, so I was eight too—but I had an older mentality, so that should count for something, right?

Breathing deeply so I didn't hyperventilate—because _anything_ could've happened to him—I walked closer to the end of the hall, peeking past it with apprehension.

No one was there.

"Hey! Sasuke?" I called, looking around. My alarm was growing worse with the lack of response, and I started quickening my pace. Walking a little farther into the quiet complex, I managed to get my shaky self to the front door within seconds.

I had a responsibility now to watch out for him; not to mention me helping the Uchiha was now one of the only reasons I was still breathing.

So him suddenly vanishing into mid-air wasn't exactly helpful.

My eye caught something white hanging off of the front door, and I immediately perked up and grabbed.

What if it was a ransom note? What if somebody _took_ him and I didn't even _know_?

Hyperventilating slightly by time I unfolded the piece of paper, imagine my surprise and further worry when I couldn't even _read_ it.

"It's in kanji," I whispered, staring blankly at it, "it's in freaking kanji."

Letting out a deep breath, I closed my eyes, crumbled the paper, and let it drop to the floor.

_'__I have no idea what happened to him.'_

A shaky breath.

_'__He's probably in danger.'_

An eye twitch.

_'__And I'm going insane with worry.'_

Eyes flying wide with renewed vigor, I frantically threw the door open, thoughts of how 'I'm going to save him' fueling my limbs.

I managed to take one running step before coming face to face with, well, a face. Screaming slightly, I quickly reacted, throwing myself back towards the door—yet only to cross my feet and trip, landing on my butt ungracefully.

"What are you doing?" came the nonchalant yet curious reply above me, making me look up on reflex.

Green met onyx, and I mentally breathed a sigh of relief at how Sasuke was _here_, and _not_ in some evil person's clutches.

Mumbling, because I realized that I must look like an idiot from where I sat, I turned my head to the side, refusing to look at him, "looking for you."

"Why," he asked, somewhat confused, "I left a note on the door." There was an underlying tone of 'I didn't have to tell you in the first place' in his tone, but I chose to ignore it.

Flushing, I sunk into myself, mumbling out an answer once again, "…"

"What?" he asked, obviously not hearing me and leaning closer.

"I—I, uh, can't read kanji."

…

"You can't?" he asked bluntly, sounding highly doubtful of whether I was telling the truth.

I shifted on the ground where I sat, still pointedly looking away from him—more or so to save myself from the embarrassment—and continued to explain, "From where I'm from, we have a whole different language compared to yours. So when I somehow 'died' per say, I was sent here—a place where most of the language isn't very understandable"

"You're speaking it though," he pointed out, most likely wearing a confused expression. My expression matched his, and I furrowed my eyebrows in thought, "I guess I am—maybe Death figured I need to be able to speak the language in order to understand you? I'm not sure of his intentions really."

A loud 'thud' erupted before me, causing me to finally gaze forward and look at the ebony haired Uchiha. He was sitting right across from me, eyebrows furrowed and puzzlement evident in his features. He looked curious, and in want of answers. I shrunk back a little when he gave me a weird look, and sent him a questioning gaze.

"Why are you staring like that?" I asked, still shrunk back and confused.

He ignored me, and pressed on with questions, "Were you visible from where you came from?" He had asked, sounding intrigued slightly.

Shifting a hand through my hair, I nodded, answering his question inaudibly.

"Well," I added as an afterthought, "I at least think so. I should have been at least."

"What do you mean you '_think'_?"

Pursing my lips, my eyes traveled to the ground, staring deeply at my bare feet, "I don't really remember a lot from my old life—there are details and the occasional flashes of memory, but that's it. When Death said that I had died on the wrong date, he gave me a second chance. He mentioned that only I could start to remember on my own, but I have no idea how."

I peeked at his face through my eyelashes, and I noticed the understanding and the tiniest twinge of sympathy coming from his face—but further confusion was there too. It must've been a lot for a regular eight year old to take in.

Well, so is the massacre of his family, so Sasuke probably isn't a regular eight year old anymore.

Quickly springing back to my normal self, I popped up with a smile, startling the poor boy in front of me.

"But don't worry about it too much—I'm not," I chirped, lying slightly, but continued nonetheless, "I'll remember someday anyhow."

_Hopefully._

"But, wait—!" he started off with furrowed eyebrows, still having questions and ready to argue to get answers—only to be cut off by a loud ringing bell.

He froze, paled, and turned in the direction behind him.

"Sasuke?" I asked, confused about why he had gone still and silent.

He jumped up and gave me a rushed look along with an answer, "I have five minutes to get to the academy before I'm late."

_Oh_.

I was given another quick glance before he started to rush in the same direction as the ringing of the academy bells.

_'__Do I follow him?'_

He started disappearing from sight, and I heaved a sigh.

_'__Of course I do.'_

"How far are we away from it?" I asked, getting up and taking quick, hurried steps to match his brisk pace.

He slowed a bit, somewhat surprised that I was running with him, but continued looking forward with slightly widened eyes, "10 minutes away."

With the same widened eyes, I gazed at him, and in return he gazed back. Sharing a look, we both paused completely before nodding.

"Run for it."

And with that, I raced with him through the streets.

* * *

><p>The final bell rung loudly over head as Sasuke hurried into the front classroom door and to his seat. I was a few paces behind him, currently gasping for air and clutching my side.<p>

_'__Stupid running,'_ I thought childishly, hobbling over to where he sat. Giving him a glance over, I realized he was barely even out of breath.

_'__Correction; stupid fast ninja kid.'_

He gave me the briefest of glances himself, before scooting the tiniest bit over so I could at least sit.

"Oh how _sweet_—I get to sit on the _corner_ of the chair." I grumbled quietly, making sure no one really heard anything. By the scowl I was receiving, Sasuke had.

Truth be told, I was grumpier after running here—more or so due to how many times I tripped, or maybe due to the fact that my running skills were nothing compared to Sasuke's.

I was sprinting for my life while he had a brisk pace going—my foul mood is clearly excusable.

"You know," he quietly whispered, not even glancing my way but directing the question at me nonetheless, "you really need to work on your stamina."

Staring at him long and hard, I repressed the twitch that was making its way onto my face, and settled for flicking his ear and hard as I could.

Don't mess the grumpy—it results in disaster.

His eyes widened and he hissed, whipping his gaze at me dead on with another one of his scowls. "Why'd you flick me?" he asked moodily, rubbing his now red ear.

"Could it be the fact that I ran here at a ridiculous pace—despite not having any use of ninja abilities? _Hmm_?" I sarcastically muttered, raising my eyebrows slightly.

He continued scowling, and briskly turned back around to face the front.

"Hn."

And with that, the conversation ended.

Sighing, I rested my hand on my palm, opting to stare out the window.

_'__Maybe he's right,' _I thought, watching lots of ninja jumping from roof to roof to get to the places they needed, _'__I should start training up my stamina.'_

Turning to peak through my hair at Sasuke's impassive face, I sighed and closed my eyes.

_'__Especially if I'm going to be living in a place like this from now on.'_

"Good morning class," a chipper voice announced, causing me to open my eyes suddenly and stare forward—eyes widening even more in recognition to who belonged to the voice.

"Good morning Iruka-sensei" everyone chimed back, excluding the few who ranged from silent, asleep, to uncaring.

Iruka looked much like he had in the anime—green flak jacket, ponytail, a scar across his nose—so I knew nothing was really far from the original plot of the story.

My mind wandered slightly as the chuunin begin his lesson, scanning the surrounding people around the room. There were some that I recognized—that being the original rookie nine—and others that I didn't.

I tried to pinpoint where most of the main characters were, but I couldn't see much from where I sat.

One thing I did notice was the collected stares that were directed in this direction, all being from mostly the girl population. Quirking an eyebrow, I followed their heart-shaped gaze and had to cover my hand to keep myself from laughing at who it was.

Sasuke discretely looked at me, questioning mentally what my problem was. Smiling wider, I gestured behind him at his star-struck fans.

When he turned to look, a dozen squeals resounded among the group, and he quickly spun his whole body back to facing the front.

Snickering slightly at his reaction, I turned back to the front of the room as Iruka finally stopped shushing the giggling fan-girls.

"Ahem, as I was saying, the Land of Fire has been in trade with—!"

As he droned on, I placed my head in my hand, and sighed quietly.

It was going to be a long day.

...

* * *

><p>"<em>Sana<em>," someone whispered beside me, nudging my shoulder with little force, "get up."

I made a tiny noise of acknowledgement before almost drifting back to sleep once again, sinking deeper into my mind.

There was a quiet sigh followed shortly after and some shuffling, but everything stilled grew quiet once more. Smiling internally at my victory, I was just about to finally fall back asleep when a sharp pain erupted in my arm. Eyes flying wide in shock and pain, I hissed and clutched at my bruised appendage lightly. Looking up, I frowned, not recognizing where I was.

Why were there so many desks? And was that a _chalkboard_?

I heard a noise along the lines of impatience, and swiveled my head in the direction the noise came from. My gaze landed on that of an exasperated Sasuke, hands stuffed in the pockets of his white shorts moodily and scowl present on his face.

_'__He pinched me, didn't he?'_

Sheepishly smiling, I glanced behind me to the rest of the space, wondering why so many kids were missing. This was a school, right?

Memories and snippets of early today resurfaced, and I remembered that of lectures from Iruka and drifting in and out of conscious due to boredom. Pursing my lips, I realized it didn't answer my previous question as to why everyone suddenly disappeared.

"Ah, Sasuke," I asked, turning back to look at him for an answer, "why—?"

"Lunchtime," was his blunt reply, before he started to stalk off towards the door.

Making an indignant noise in the back of my throat, I shot up from my seat, scrambling to follow him out the door.

If no one else that actually went to the academy was in the classroom, than I, who isn't even enrolled, wasn't going to be either.

I ran down the corner of the hall just as he disappeared around it, and made an abrupt stop so I didn't smack into the random desk by the crook of the wall. Bypassing it, I took quick steps and finally reached him as we both walked out the front doors.

The silence from the inside of the building was quickly replaced by contagious noise from the outside. Staring around with slight awe, multiple sounds of laughter, hollering kids, and chattering friends attacked my ears. As I stared around the medium sized length of the playing field, bits and pieces of a playground the seemed familiar snapped in and out of focus.

I tried to concentrate on the small memory, but the train of thought was lost when a stray ball hit the side of my head.

Snapping my head sideways during impact, I stayed that way for a second in shock before grouchily rubbing the side—muttering a low string of curses under my breath.

_'__Who the heck _threw_that?'_

A small snort made me look forward at an amused Sasuke, who tried to hide his laughter.

"Shuddup," I murmured moodily, still rubbing my head. I was oddly surprised by the freedom of laughter that came from him, but it was pleasing to know he wasn't so far gone.

_'__I still have a chance to save him.'_

He smirked slightly, walking forward casually, "you definitely can tell you had no ninjas from where you came from."

_'__Or maybe not.'_

Taking a small breath, I full-out ignored his little jab, choosing instead to follow him over to the fence where he was headed towards.

Stuffing my hands in my hoodie's front pocket, I slumped against the metallic fence, sliding down it and finally sitting once more. Running a hand through my hair, I made a promise mentally to ask Sasuke where the nearest shower was after school was over.

Tilting my neck to look at a still slightly amused yet aloof Sasuke sitting beside me, I noticed his face starting to morph into a general impassive expression.

Taking my gaze away from him for a moment, I stared back into the crowd of children; one single thought hitting me as I scrutinized each one:

They're all going to become killers one day, fighting for their lives and that of the village's.

And that in itself is a scary thought.

Some of them are still so young, and some have little to none training at all.

_'__Do they even know what they're getting into?'_

Sasuke's face crossed my mind for a split second, and I realized that he'd become one of the most notorious killer among them all in the future.

_'__You can prevent it,'_ a voice whispered in the back of my mind, _'__you can stop it from happening that way.' _

And for the first time since I've been here, I realized that I _could_. I could prevent him from becoming even lonelier, more hate-filled.

Is this what Death meant when he said help?

_'__I won't be helping just him—I'd help everyone else in the process.'_

All the rookies.

The civilians. The village.

_Everyone_.

Breathing in deeply, I glanced at the slightly scowling boy next to me, eyes distant as if in thought—but by the hard glint in his eye, it was easy to tell what he was thinking of.

He was ready to accept the role of an avenger.

And as much as I don't want to mess anything up, he deserves to be happy.

Before I could say anything to him though, something yellow flashed in the corner of my eye, and I turned my head to see what it was.

I took notice of a blonde-haired kid holding a ball, clear, crystal blue eyes staring directly at Sasuke with mixed emotions.

_'__He looks familiar.'_

"Sasuke," I piped up, speaking for the first time in a long time, "who's that kid?"

He followed my pointed finger, and sighed when the kid that was staring got hit in the head with a ball just like I did moments before.

_'__Ha, so even ninjas get hit in the face with dodge balls.'_

The blonde boy had taken off angrily after the offender with the ball, and I smirked evilly in my mind, cheering the boy on one hundred percent.

_'__Serves that other kid right.'_

_"_That's just Naruto—he's the dead last of the class, and a real annoyance." He muttered, eyes closed with a sour look on his face.

Eyes bulging in shock, I turned back around to face the rampaging blonde once more.

_'__So this is the person who becomes the hero of Konoha?'_

Watching him a bit more closely now, I mentally face palmed at my stupidity—it was a little more obvious now who he was. For heaven's sake, he even has the whiskers.

"How come you don't befriend him," I asked, mentally encouraging him to make friends with his future teammate.

"He's a dobe," he stated, as if it was clear enough why.

Sighing, I rubbed a hand down my face, wondering why Death sent me to one of the most stubborn person in existence.

"You need to open up more." Was all I said, choosing to direct my thoughts and line of sight to the sky.

"Hn."

Ah, there's the famous word making its way in the spotlight once again.

Gradually after our small conversation on 'befriending people', everyone's voices started to die down, the chatter and other off-topic conversations becoming slowly hushed. Glancing around, I took notice of each person starting to eat lunch, and I looked over at Sasuke expectantly.

He gave me a flat stare, before raising his eyebrows. "What," he asked, sounding confused.

Turning to talk to him better, I rested my head against the metal fence behind me, "how come you don't have a lunch? Did you make one?"

His response sounded dull, and I winced at how lifeless it was, "I have no one to make it for me."

Choking on my words, I swallowed the lump in my throat, smacking myself for bringing up a bad topic.

_'__Wonderful choice of words Susana,'_ I grouched internally.

Giving a look to everyone around me, all eating and talking at the same time, an idea popped into my head.

"Hey," I muttered, turning back to look at him. He shifted his gaze to me in question, and I took it as an invite to keep talking, "how about I make you a lunch? I'll be living with you for a while, so why not? I mean, if it's ok—that I can make you a lunch and live with you?"

He was silent for a minute, and I worried that he would react coldly. So imagine my surprise when he nodded, a small glimpse of warmth in his eyes.

"Yeah, I would like that."

* * *

><p>After the bell had rung, I found myself following the large group of kids inside with a rather impassive Sasuke beside me, fending off masses of drooling girls.<p>

The herd of children all disappeared into different rooms and me and Sasuke into our own.

There was only five minutes of chatter and side-taking before Iruka walked into the classroom once more, still chipper despite it being almost four hours since the school day started.

"Alright everyone, who can tell me what the key factor for using ninjutsu is?" Iruka asked the class, pacing back and forth between the aisles of desks.

From where I sat—on the corner of the seat and by the window—I saw some hands go up, all ranging from different kids. One hand stood out, raised high and strong, eager to answer the question.

Blinking, I realized that hand belonged to Sakura, wearing a red bow in her bright pink locks.

_'__Ino must've befriended her already.'_

"Yes, Sakura?" Iruka pressed, staring at her expectantly.

She smiled brightly, lowering her hand, and answering the question in a happy tone, "the key factor is _chakra_, sensei."

"Very good," he complimented, smiling back encouragingly, "So what is the key factor for _using_ chakra for ninjutsu? Anyone know?"

Sakura's hand was in the air once again, along with some stragglers, but Iruka's gaze was directed at someone else.

"Naruto," he asked, "can you answer the question?"

The name and the familiarity behind it caused me to turn around in my seat, slightly curious as to how he would answer.

_'__Was he actually paying attention?'_

I zeroed in on his face, watching with slight amusement as his eyes glanced around the room frantically, looking for an answer, a nervous glint in them.

_'__I'll take that as a no.'_

"_Well_," Iruka prompted, waiting and tapping his foot, "do you have an answer?"

A slow headshake and sheepish look was given in return, "Sorry sensei."

Iruka just tiredly sighed, seemingly expecting the response. His gaze shifted over in my direction, and for a scary moment, I thought he was going to pick me.

"Sasuke, can you give me an answer?"

Sighing in relief—though a little bummed that he couldn't see me—I leaned forward onto my desk to here Sasuke's response.

"Having good chakra control," he stated, still aloof and uncaring.

Multiple hushed squeals resounded around the room from the females at the sound of his voice, and I still had to repress snickers at how Sasuke's eye twitched.

"Yes, very good Sasuke," Iruka smiled, and started to go off in a rant about how important chakra was and why we need it.

At that point, I spaced out once more, though a bit more subtly than falling asleep. Instead, I chose to stare out the window like before, taking in the views of the once thought to be make believe village.

My gaze shifted all around until they settled on the Hokage Mountain, carefully looking at each individual carved on the stone.

_'__It reminds me of Mt. Rushmore,'_ I thought without realizing it. Pausing, I blinked, wondering where the thought came from—I tried pressing further into my mind to find out why, but it failed. Pursing my lips and rubbing a hand down my face, I tried instead to figure out what to do to start what Death had called 'helping'.

_'__Well,'_ I started, closing my eyes in concentration_, 'as far as I can remember, the whole start of everything bad happening was with the curse mark—if I can just prevent that…'_

Reopening my eyes and glancing at Sasuke's hardened face, I sighed pitifully, knowing I was way in over my head.

I needed ninja training to help fend off Orochimaru—and a _lot_ of it.

I currently had _none_.

I also needed to help Sasuke open up somehow—make him gain a few friends right off the bat and learn how to rely on others.

Glancing over, I watched as Sasuke's hardened face became a full out scowl, and I knew I was screwed.

_'__The curse mark is the least of my problems now,'_ I thought pathetically, sobbing internally, _'__this stubborn kid is bent on revenge.'_

_'__And he wasn't even a very social person to begin with!' _my mind supplied, making things worse.

Sighing deeply in pity, I rested my head against the desk with a small 'thud'. The wood against my forehead felt cold, but it helped clear my thoughts slightly. Shivering slightly as my back prickled, I could feel Sasuke's gaze settle there, probably wondering what the heck was wrong with me; yet despite him questioning my sanity, I remained where I was, trying to think of how to save his own.

_'__I can do this,' _I self encouraged_, 'I can help him—save him even. I can help team 7, I can help the village.'_

Face softening with each word, I let my tense muscles relax, _'__I can help him fight off everyone who is trying to take away his happiness—I know what's going to happen, and if I can prevent it, I will.'_

Smiling slightly, a new thought occurred to me, and I chose that idea to work on first:

_'__Primarily though, I need to help him fight off his inner demons before anyone else.'_

I tuned back into the conversation as Iruka ended with the words _'__sparing is tomorrow, be ready and enjoy the rest of the day'_.

Glancing around from where I had my head lying on the desk, I noticed that everyone started to pack up, causing some relief to hit me.

_'__Finally, I can take a shower!'_

As kids started to leave, two kids in front of me on the desk caught my attention.

They were two totally different looking people in every sense—weight, hair color, eye color, personality—but they still seemed like they were good friends.

What caught my attention though, were their names.

"What do you say Shikamaru? Wanna go to the candy store after school?" the plumper one asked happily, eyes crinkled as he smiled.

"No way," Shikamaru answered with a tone that sounded dull and an attentive yet slumped posture, "you can get away with that stuff because your Mom is _nice_. But if _my_ mother found out I didn't come straight home, man I'd be in some serious trouble."

Meanwhile as they talked, I sat in my chair with my eyes wide and unblinking, berating myself for not them in front of me sooner.

_'__No—no _way_,'_ I thought, ready to smack myself_, 'two of the main characters have been sitting there—the whole time—and I didn't notice.'_

Sighing, I stared up at the ceiling with pursed lips.

_'__Learn to be observant,'_ I told myself with a frown, _'__otherwise you're going to be the stupidest ninja alive.'_

"Hey, did ya hear," a whispering voice broke me out of my thoughts, causing me to focus and turn around to see why they were so secretive.

"Apparently the whole Uchiha clan was murdered," I heard one of them say, and I stiffened immensely, previous curiosity vanishing.

Swiveling my head slowly toward the boy in question, I frowned when I saw how tense and frozen he was.

"Yeah, that's what my Dad was telling me."

_'__Stop,'_ I yelled internally, fixing the two boys with wide-eyed looks_, 'you're going to make it worse!'_

"They say that Sasuke—!"

_'__Please don't finish that sentence.'_

"—is the only one who _survived._"

_'…__those _idiots_…'_

The second bell rang, and everyone filtered out through the door in multiple large crowds. Watching with curiosity as the other students packed up and left, I turned my head towards Sasuke when shuffling noises were heard.

"Hey, Sasuke—!" I whispered, noticing his hidden eyes, but getting cut off as he hurriedly stood up and left, eyes downcast and hidden underneath his bangs. With a choked noise I scrambled out of my seat—not before flicking both of the boys who cause that reaction—and running out the door after him.

Pausing at the door, I took a minute to enjoy their frightened screams of 'ghost!' before scrambling through the doorway and down the kid-filled halls.

I made it all the way to the large front door of the academy when I paused again, looking in every direction.

"He—_He ditched me_," I breathed with slight horror, realizing three things in that moment.

I lost track of Sasuke.

He's vulnerable to his emotions right now.

And I didn't know where the Uchiha compound was.

Sighing, I realized I was right—today _was_ going to be long.

* * *

><p><strong>1219/2014**

**I actually finished the chapter.**

**Woah.**

**Anyways, hey guys! I regret how long it took me to write this chapter, but I had so many scenarios and scenes that I ended up backspacing most of the time.**

**I blame myself for being a perfectionist.**

**Besides that, I guess I should go over the answers to potential questions beforehand.**

**1. Susana's appearance will be mentioned in the next chapter or the fourth—but her outfits will change through the chapters like any other normal story.**

**2. In my story, I do realize I make Sasuke call her 'Sana' instead of 'Susana'. That's because 'Sana' is an actual Japanese name, and while 'Su' is one too, those two names in Japanese culture don't go together to make 'Susana'. (As far as I know that is.) So Sasuke automatically calls her 'Sana' due to it being more normal. (In previous chapter, I wrote him being confused when she pronounced the name to make it culturally correct (I hope I did at least))**

**3. Earlier in the chapter, Sasuke's absence in the morning was when he went to the room Itachi told him about on the night of the massacre, therefore him being absent.**

**4. As for why Sasuke is letting Sana actually stay with him at his home, that will be most likely cleared up next chapter.**

**5. I wanted so badly to have put one more scene into this chapter, but due to how many time skips I had in here, I chose not to (if anyone's confused about the ending that is.)**

**6. Susana is not visible to anyone but Sasuke at this point—and while she is slightly unhappy about that, the way her personality is makes her get a kick out of using her invisibility to mess with people. (As seen above in the chapter.) The repercussions for that will come in due time.**

**6. More character interaction with the rookie nine and other characters will be in later chapters, I promise.**

**7. Sasuke is still a little ooc—thankfully, I still have an answer to that. Him being cold and revenge-filled was due to no social interaction or anyone to snap him out of it. Susana will have an influence on him, and so will the rookie nine in later chapters. (But if he's too ooc, tell me!)**

**8. Susana has no ninja ability at this point, and will remain with none until a few chapters in—sorry guys!**

**Well, hopefully I covered everything, but if anyone else has a question, ask away!**

**Also let me know if I could change anything—like spelling, grammar, spotted sue-dom, or ooc-ness—all suggestions are taken into consideration!**

**To Ophelia Elric: I've never seen the Hellsing series, so maybe I should give it a try—hopefully I'll like it. :)**

**Question: What's your favorite fanfiction out of all the rest?**

**Next chapter is in the making and will hopefully be released soon! Thanks for the support!**

**(Updating of this chapter may occur)**


	4. Chapter 3: Promise

**Summary: AU. When one dies, they don't expect to be brought back to life to help a lonely kid after a massacre. I've learned to start expecting the unexpected. (OC-centric)**

**_*All rights for the characters go to Masashi Kishimoto; except for mine of course*_**

**Chapter 3**

_First Person POV_

_…_

In a normal person's life, many things can happen for no apparent reason—but the things that _do_ happen have a general meaning, or some underlining life lesson in them.

I'm not saying that every unexpected event has some freaky universal message, but it comes real close to being that way.

So, what's the message the universe is sending to me as I run through the bustling merchant streets of one very huge Konohagakure?

That my life is far from normal now.

_'__Or,'_ I add pessimistically, _'__I'm in way over my head.'_

Panting heavily as I jogged from side to side of the overcrowded dust road, I glanced in every nook and cranny of each tiny shop and food stall. Refocusing my sights on the road and off the side-buildings, I wondered how the heck I was going to find him.

To be clear, I mean a currently missing Sasuke Uchiha.

_'__If those stupid kids would have learned to whisper like a regular person—or better yet, not have said anything at all—this wouldn't have happened,' _I sighed heavily, picking up my running pace.

Taking a few more running steps, I squeaked loudly when I almost ran into a cart full of fruits, narrowly dodging to the left as it passed.

_'__Ok, time out.'_

Directing myself to the nearest alleyway, I halted and grabbed the brick wall of the building that was beside the narrow street. Leaning all my weight against the wall, I sunk down it, now sitting with my eyes closed.

Taking a deep breath, I rubbed a hand down my face, wiping off the sweat.

"I need to build stamina," I murmured to myself, still slightly exhausted, "I need to become a ninja—I need to save the potential future of thousands—I need to find the Uchiha compound—I need to find _Sasuke_."

Pausing, I stared directly at the sky, eyes growing darker with each new troubling thought.

"I need to become a visible person with _all_ of their memories, and an inkling of knowledge on how to even _begin_ everything along with that."

Huffing another breath, I wondered how exactly Death expected me to do this.

A normal girl, with basically not a fighting bone in her body, does not equal a place where fighting and death is the normality among everyone.

"What was Death thinking?" I whispered, still staring at the sky as the clouds floated lazily by.

_'__What was_ I_thinking?'_

I wanted answers—that was one of the only reasons why I accepted. I wanted to know what had happened; I wanted to know why I died so early, why I couldn't remember anything.

I didn't realize that I had to join somewhere where things were in jeopardy, and everything depended on the sanity of an eight-year old boy.

_'__Who's still missing, by the way,'_ the same nagging voice from the back of my mind whispered.

Groaning at how I was already failing what I needed to accomplish, I took my eyes off the sky and directed them to my feet, not caring as they started to go out of focus.

_'__I want to help,'_ a part of me whispered_, 'but I have no idea _how_.'_

And as the second passed, I realized something else.

Sasuke might not even want my help.

He might really want to become an avenger, even if he had to sever bonds that kept him happy.

Maybe I wasn't needed for this—maybe I shouldn't be involved at all.

Should I let things play out like they were supposed to? Should I let the ones who were destined to die, die?

_'__No,'_ something in me denied, _'__I won't quit.'_

Taking a shuddering breath at the new adrenaline that filled me, I climbed myself up the wall to stand.

_'__No one wants to be alone.'_

I pushed myself off the brick, a new outlook and a new sense of energy filling me.

_'__No one is going to die that shouldn't have had to in the first place.'_

Taking a step forward as I quickly wiped sweat off of my forehead, I dashed back out into the crowd.

_'__I have the future knowledge for a reason, and I'm not letting it go to waste.'_

* * *

><p>I had a good five minutes into running around blind, still looking for anything that could give me a clue where I needed to go, when I started to formulate a plan.<p>

Why not just ask someone where it was?

_'__Because no one's going to talk to air,' _I reminded myself, letting my cynical side show through once again.

A quick pause mid-stride, followed by a quick turn to avoid the little kids playing, and then suddenly another ingenious idea hit me as I watched one kid pickpocket a grown adult.

While all the while I thought the kid was a little crook, I recognized how good the idea of stealth really was.

_'__Maybe if I can sneak up on someone, ask them where the compound is, and make sure they never turn around to see that there is supposedly 'no one' there, I can get my answer.'_

Smiling at how intelligent I made myself seem, I slowed to a halt, searching for someone who looked distracted enough not to talk directly talk to me.

Taking a few walking paces, and disappearing behind a street corner, I spotted the perfect victim.

It was a middle-aged man; with a graying beard adorned in some dust from the boxes he was unpacking. Jogging to get to him faster, my senses were immediately hit with the strong smell of smoke from the cigar he was smoking. Crinkling my nose, I held my breath for a few seconds so I didn't breathe it in.

"Excuse me," I asked in the nicest voice I could muster with the smell, "can I ask you a question mister?"

To my relief, he never turned, and continued doing his job.

"Sure kid, whaddya wan'?" he asked, accent heavy and voice raspy from all the smoke in his lungs.

I shifted my weight from my left foot to my right, and I crossed my fingers, "can you tell me where the Uchiha compound is located?"

"Why do ya wanna know where dat is?" he asked again, still stacking boxes with confusion lacing his posture.

Blinking, I frantically hurried to come up with a convincing lie, "I—I, uh, wanna pay my respects to them?"

It was supposed to be a serious and somber statement, and it somehow came out an unsure question.

_'__Remember to work on lying skills after you locate the nearest hairbrush—and take a shower.'_

Surprisingly, he didn't notice my obvious lie—or was too busy to care—and pointing in the direction to the left of us, "Keep going that a way fer a while, then turn left. It a be 'round there."

Nodding, and silently celebrating my success, I smiled, and muttered a quick _'__thank you'_ before taking off, heading in the direction he pointed.

_'__I hope I'm not too late.'_

Picking up the pace, I dodged the stray pieces of glass in the dirt, wondering why they were there in the first place, before reaching another street corner that had a four-way intersection.

_'__He said to turn left,'_ I thought, _'__let's hope he's right.'_

Walking alongside a random civilian woman with a green dress, I turned the corner and ducked just as a plank of wood that was getting unloaded flew overhead. With wide eyes, I stared at the direct spot where the large piece of wood would've smacked. Sending a quick and childish glare to the uncaring construction worker—and then laughing quietly when the lady in the green dress starting yelling about how he almost smacked her as well, I shook it off and continued running.

I noticed a red and white shape on the wall of a building, and I lit up considerably when I saw the familiar symbol in the distance.

Running just a tad bit faster, I ducked in and over the yellow police tape just like yesterday, searching for any sign of a presence nearby.

_'__There's only broken glass, dried blood, and empty buildings.'_

Breathing in slightly to catch my breath, I held my side to somehow alleviate the cramp that running improperly had formed. Wiping sweat off of my forehead with my other hand, I cursed the sun for being so bright today.

Shaking off the heat, I limped through the dust road of the compound a little bit more slowly—still focused on both finding Sasuke, and catching my breath.

Glancing from vacant building to vacant building, I couldn't help the eerie feeling that crept up on me while I walked further into the place. These were peoples' homes, and ironically, their graves.

Pausing mid-step, a thought occurred to me.

_'__Did the hokage take the dead bodies, or are they—?'_

Getting rid of the thought immediately, I continued to venture forward, more hurriedly than before.

_'__Ok,'_ I breathed, trying to clear my thoughts, _'__if I were an emotionally unstable 8 year old, where would I be?'_

"He wouldn't be home," I whispered out loud, rubbing my chin in thought "nor would he be in a public place—so where then?"

_'__Where did he go in the anime at this point?'_

Eyes widening in realization, I took a 360 degree glance around where I stood, before taking off in the right direction.

Smiling slightly in success for actually remembering something, I ran full speed towards where he most likely would have gone.

_'__To the lake we go.'_

* * *

><p>The original destination I wanted was a lot harder to find then I expected—it was hidden behind a thick brush of trees, with multitudes of other plants and bushes. I had welcomed the change from rough dirt to soft grass willingly along the way, sighing contentedly when the ache from running on solid ground was over. My content posture didn't last for long though—a tense stance replaced the other, and nervousness started to creep in.<p>

There was the lake like originally seen, and in seconds, everything about the situation sunk in as reality.

There was the dock.

There was Sasuke.

And I only had moments left before he makes his life-changing decision.

It was all up to me.

_Me_. The person who couldn't be seen, the one with no fight in her, no plan.

Before I could stop myself, my feet started moving towards him, walking gingerly, stiff.

I wasn't ready to take on responsibility—I wasn't prepared. And yet, I didn't really have any other choice.

I was sent here for a reason, and I wasn't going to let that reason go to waste. Still walking slowly and carefully, I tried to come up with something to say when I got there.

After much consideration, I finally realized it: _I have absolutely no clue._

I was ten feet away from the dock now.

_'__I can do this.' _I self encouraged.

I was five feet away from the dock now.

_'__I can help Konohagakure.'_

I was one foot away from the dock now.

_I can help him.'_

Placing one bare foot on the stained wood of the dock, it took all my willpower to keep standing upright.

_'__Just breathe.'_

His posture visibly became more guarded, and I knew that he knew I was there. He was giving me the briefest of side-glances, before facing the reflection of himself in the water once again.

"Go away," he commanded, voice heavy and so void of anything besides hopelessness.

Closing my eyes, I took in another deep breath, before walking to the edge where he sat, standing there for a second to take everything in, before sitting next to him myself. My feet were instantly soaked in the crystal clear water underneath, and I silently felt relieved that my old leggings weren't _so_ baggy that they were soaked as well.

Looking down at my rippling reflection, I watched myself purse my lips, before speaking up, "I'm not going to _'__go away'_, Sasuke."

From the reflections in the water, I saw his eyes looking at me for a second, before resting on his hands once again, and I switched my gaze to him.

"Hey," I mumbled, curling my fingers into the dock's wood, "I-I know everything's a little messed up right now," I started, seemingly saying whatever was coming to mind first.

"And, I know that you think you're the only one who can…take _vengeance_ for your clan, per say, "I continued in a light tone, carefully avoiding the word _'__avenge'_, "but, you're—you're _not_ alone, ya know? You're not the only won who needs to go through this—you don't have to take him on by yourself."

"But I _am_ the only—!" he retaliated, obsidian eyes flashing and mixed negative emotions making its way onto his face.

"No," I cut off hastily, "you are _not_ the only one."

Staring back at the water, I stared into my reflection's eyes, gazing at the forest green color and continuing.

"I'm here to help—help _you,_ that is. Why else are you the only one who can see me?" I stated with a light laugh

There was a pause of silence, and I managed to think of more to say to fill the void.

"I know that you're angry with, well, everything at this point—but I need a promise from you Sasuke."

Maybe it was the seriousness of my tone, or something that was mirrored in my expression, but somehow, I had gotten his full attention.

He was now facing me, curiosity glinting in his eyes. Matching his stare, I decided it was now or never, and let the words fall out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Promise me, that when you get older, you'll stick by your comrades—that the revenge you want to get won't consume you."

His eyes flashed again, and I could feel myself shrink back a bit, waiting for the protest.

"But my _entire_ clan—!"

"I _know_. I _know_ how much that must've hurt—I know that you want…to _avenge_ them. But don't do it alone. I'm not saying to forget the drive to avenge everyone lost, but don't do it without help—don't isolate yourself."

He was scowling now, looking away from me and into the still water.

"Promise me—Promise that when you get strong enough to defeat _him_, you don't do it alone."

It was an urgent statement, but the way I said it made it more than urgent; it was _dire_.

In truth, the promise I asked him to make would be the step one—it would be the first step to a happier future.

There would be no betrayal.

No hate.

No darkness.

He could live the life alternate to what had happened. The one in the anime that Itachi had wanted in the first place.

The one life he should've gotten.

"I can't just—!" he protested, eyebrows furrowed and hands clenched.

Breathing in, I turned to look at him fully, still tense, but slightly less nervous and more pressing, "_Promise_. _Me_."

There was an opposed and frustrated look he gave me, but it was resigned and turned into a more submissive one, "I'll try to."

It wasn't the exact answer I wanted, but it was close enough.

It was the slight step forward into the light, and a step backward from the dark—and that's all I needed.

Relaxing immensely, I smiled brightly, startling him somewhat with my change in attitude.

"Thank you."

_'__Step one: complete.'_

_…_

**Well, um, it's finished at least?**

**Sorry for such a short chapter, but there wasn't much I could really do after I gave it much thought.**

**Yes, well, Sana ended up getting him to consider ****_not_****going off on a revenge-filled rampage after Itachi—so I guess you can see the parallel there. She did know where he was, due to having slight memories of the anime.**

**No, she won't remember everything about the storyline, but yes, she will remember some.**

**As for any other questions or suggestions, feel free to just ask me.**

**Also, I tried to tone down any sue-dom—I'm not exactly sure what classifies as mary-sue-ness in somewhat sappy situations and what doesn't; but, if I added some, it will most likely get removed when I update the chapter and revise it.**

**The next few chapters will be purely AU for a while (next 4-5 chapters I'm guessing) so get ready. :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Review?**

**Question: Favorite book series?**


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